Thanks Endless and to all who contributed to the Iress debate. Apologies for the distraction to those unaffected.
Half-time round-up:
Australian shares hit a one-month high this morning and held most of their gains despite falls across Asia after a slowdown in Chinese manufacturing activity.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was 33 points or 0.7% ahead at 5000 after earlier hitting 5036, the index's strongest level since March 19. The gains came as a special dividend from WPL drove the energy sector up 3.2% and investors snapped up shares offering strong yields in the hope that a slowdown in China may mean more rate cuts in Australia. Financials rallied 1%, telecoms 1.5% and health stocks 1.3%.
The index dropped off its high shortly before the 11.45am EST release of April data that confirmed a mild deterioration in Chinese manufacturing. HSBC's preliminary Purchasing Managers' Index dropped to a two-month low of 50.5 from a final March reading of 51.6. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had anticipated a figure around 51.5.
"New export orders contracted after a temporary rebound in March, suggesting external demand for China's exporters remains weak," HSBC chief China economist Hongbin Qu told MarketWatch.
The Shanghai Composite dived 1.57%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.93% and Japan's Nikkei 0.29%. Dow futures were recently off 29 points or 0.2%.
Spot gold strengthened $2.40 to US$1,428.30 an ounce. May copper dropped another two cents or 0.6% to $3.11. The dollar was buying $US1.0228.
The market appears to be defying gravity after those Chinese manufacturing figures. Yes, the PMI was positive but the reaction from Shanghai and US futures tells the story. Meanwhile, trading is challenging enough when the software works, dangerous when it doesn't. This morning was like driving in fog. I fluked a win in TAM but didn't get enough of a fill for it to be worth much. Also stumbled into MBN with less success. Frustrating week - made peanuts yesterday, hamstrung by software today, no trading Thursday. At this rate I'll have to score big at two-up to generate a wage, lol.
